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Kane And Son Lift The Gloom

4 min read
by Ewan Flynn
Tottenham will hope to ride this nascent feel-good factor into the sterner tests that lie ahead.

Tottenham ended a run of three successive defeats with an emphatic 2-0 win over West Brom at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Ahead of kick-off Jose Mourinho described the game as ‘must-win’. Such bullishness doubtless reflected the Spurs manager’s relief at being able to restore Harry Kane to his starting line-up. That Tottenham’s worst run of league form in nine years has occurred while their talisman has been sidelined through injury is, of course, no coincidence. Kane has been the Premier League’s outstanding performer this campaign, and no side is as dependent on a single player as Spurs are on the England captain.

Mourinho’s attacking intent for this match was evident in his selection of Lucas Moura and Erik Lamela. Too often this season the Portuguese has stubbornly prefered graft over guile when composing his midfield, even against inferior opposition. Here, at last, the excellent Hojbjerg alone was entrusted to protect Tottenham’s frail back four.

Spurs went for West Brom from the off. Inside five minutes, Hojbjerg’s perceptive pass encouraged Ben Davies to burst forward down the left. A quick give and go with Kane almost put the full-back in on goal, but Semi Ajayi intervened with a well-timed challenge on the edge of the box.

Minutes later another last-ditch tackle, this time by Kyle Bartley, halted Spurs progress after Moura had weaved his way past three West Brom players into a goalscoring position.

The lively Lamela was particularly prominent as the home side pinned the visitors back. His crafty dinked pass released Serge Aurier, who returned possession back to the Argentine 20 yards from goal. Setting the ball on to his left foot, Lamela whipped a shot goalwards, narrowly missing the top corner.

His next involvement was again to play Aurier into space on the right-wing. The Ivorian squared the ball across the area to Kane, who fired in a left-footed strike that grazed the angle of post and crossbar on its way wide.

If Kane had been unlucky with that chance, he was wasteful with his next effort. With 17 minutes played, Ndombele’s misplaced pass fortuitously broke to Kane. With only Sam Johnstone to beat, the forward pulled his shot wide of the far post.

For a striker with so many outstanding technical qualities, it is perhaps Kane’s mental fortitude that has elevated him among the ranks of the handful of genuinely world-class footballers currently playing in the English game. The missing of even a gilt-edged chance does not appear to weigh heavy. Kane’s focus, instead, is always hitting the target next time. Eight minutes from the interval, Moura worked the ball into Kane on the right of the box. A sharp first touch was followed by a thudding shot which Johnstone parried away at his near post.

With Spurs so dominant the only real threat of a West Brom goal was likely to be complacency in the home defence. A minute before half-time Sam Allardyce’s side fashioned a rare attack down Tottenham’s left which should have seen them ahead at the interval. Snodgrass’s searching cross to the back post found Diagne who had run off Davinson Sanchez. From six yards out, the rangy Senegalese powered his header downwards only to be denied by Hugo Lloris’s brilliant diving save. The keeper reacted equally sharply to ensure that the ball did not spin back across the line after his initial intervention.

Further galvanised by this let-off, Tottenham started the second half determined to make their breakthrough. Directly from the restart, Kane measured a through ball into Son. Without a goal in his last five Premier League games, the South Korean angled his shot for the far corner but was thwarted by Johnstone’s outstretched leg.

Eight minutes later, however, the West Brom keeper was powerless to prevent Tottenham’s number ten opening the scoring. Ben Davies advanced down the left before turning infield and dispatching the ball to Hojbjerg. The Dane, who had passed progressively throughout the match, dissected the West Brom defence with his through ball to Kane. The striker’s first touch was immaculate, his second – a side-foot finish inside the far post – perfection. It was Kane’s 20th goal of the season and his 208th in Spurs colours. Only the legendary Jimmy Greaves has scored more times for the club.

Kane was also to play an integral role in Tottenham’s second, which arrived just before the hour. Feathering down a high ball with his chest on the edge of Spurs box, the striker set Lucas Moura away. The Brazilian surged all the way to the West Brom area – exploiting the space created by Lamela’s shrewd run – before steering a perfectly weighted pass to the sprinting Son. Confronted by Johnstone, the forward opted for power over precision, crashing the ball beyond the keeper for his 13th top-flight goal this season.

With confidence flooding back to the Tottenham players, Mourinho’s side played some delightful one and two touch football in what remained of the game. Diagne did have the ball in the Spurs net twice for The Baggies, but the precision of Tottenham’s defensive line saw both efforts correctly flagged for offside without the need for recourse to VAR. Such was Tottenham’s comfort in the closing stages, Mourinho was even able to hand 16-year-old Dane Scarlett a Premier League debut in injury time. The rookie striker is now the youngest man to have ever appeared for Spurs in the league.

Tottenham will hope to ride this nascent feel-good factor into the sterner tests that lie ahead. The North Londoners now face Everton at Goodison Park for a place in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday, before next weekend’s trip to table-topping Manchester City. With Kane in this form, Mourinho will fancy his side’s chances.

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Freelance football writer for When Saturday Comes The Blizzard and FourFourTwo. Author of We Are Sunday League

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